Since 2008 I have organized my studio practice around Shakespeares Timon of Athens. It is considered Shakespeares most problematic work and is the only one of his plays not performed in his lifetime. I chose a failed work because the plays obscurity creates unpoliced cultural bandwidth that I can occupy without incident. For each character in the play I produce a distinct body of work based on contemporary associations, resulting in a collection of related pieces composed of separately considered parts. Timon of Athens allows me to build an entire imaginative universe--in the manner of William Blake or Matthew Barney--from one discarded 17th-century play.

Timon of Athens is a corrupted text of indeterminate history, questionable sources, and a dubious relationship to the respected canon. That is to say, it mirrors my own position in the art world perfectly. The asymmetry between Shakespeares reputation and my own will likely remain intact. But there will come a time when Timon of Athens will be known as mine instead of his.